Trump administration could block T-Mobile/Sprint merger, AT&T CEO says

Merger has “tough hill to climb” because it’s “taking a competitor out.”

Enlarge / AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014. (credit: Getty Images | Bloomberg)

AT&T's CEO predicted that T-Mobile USA and Sprint will have a difficult time getting their merger approved because the deal would eliminate a major competitor.

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson was interviewed at a Recode conference on Wednesday, and he discussed the pending T-Mobile/Sprint deal as well as AT&T's pending acquisition of Time Warner Inc.

"I think [T-Mobile and Sprint] have a tough hill to climb, I mean, it's a classic horizontal merger where you're taking a competitor out of the marketplace," Stephenson said.

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An evolutionary adaptation that doesn’t directly rely on new mutations

Blind cave fish harnessed an epigenetic system to shut down eye development.

Enlarge / One of the fish in question. (credit: University of Cincinnati )

Creatures that spend their lives in dark caves tend to be changed by the experience. Gollum lost the hair on the tops of his feet and his taste for cooked food. Mexican cave fish lost their eyes.

Mexican tetra swam from surface waters into their caves around 1.5 million years ago. Like naked mole rats—another species that lives underground, in perennial darkness—they have no eyes. But whereas key genes controlling eye development in naked mole rats have mutations that inactivate them, there are no such inactivating mutations in the genes of the Mexican cave fish.

But mutations aren't the only way to change gene activity, and new research suggests a different explanation for the fish's lack of eyes. Epigenetic regulation is a means of controlling gene activity that does not alter the DNA sequence of the genes themselves. Genes undergoing epigenetic regulation can still make normal proteins, but the amount of the protein they make is modulated.

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HP Chromebook x2 2-in-1 tablet now available for $600

After going up for pre-order in April, HP’s first Chromebook with a detachable tablet section is now available from Best Buy for $600. The HP Chromebook x2 was expected to hit the streets on June 10th, but it looks like Best Buy pulled the trigge…

After going up for pre-order in April, HP’s first Chromebook with a detachable tablet section is now available from Best Buy for $600. The HP Chromebook x2 was expected to hit the streets on June 10th, but it looks like Best Buy pulled the trigger a little early. Customers who pre-ordered are also starting to […]

The post HP Chromebook x2 2-in-1 tablet now available for $600 appeared first on Liliputing.

Fortnite among the Switch ports reportedly coming to E3

Dragon Ball, Killer Queen, Overcooked also appear in credible pre-E3 leak.

Enlarge / There's reason to believe this blurry, leaked photo of Nintendo's E3 booth materials is authentic. (credit: AAMARMO Twitter / 4chan)

A number of credible leaks and reports suggest that Epic Games' ultra-popular battle royale game Fortnite will be getting a Switch port in the near future.

The scuttlebutt around the Switch port started yesterday afternoon, when Fortnite showed up in a photographed list of Switch game logos that were purportedly being printed for display at Nintendo's E3 booth. That list also included other unannounced Switch titles such as Dragon Ball FighterZ, Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate, Killer Queen Black, Paladins, and Overcooked 2.

It's incredibly easy to generate an authentic-looking (but fake) list of E3 announcements, of course, and fraudulent "leaks" pop up all the time in the pre-E3 buzz. But there's sufficient reason to believe this leak is authentic.

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Niedersachsen: Bundesland meldet fast 9.000 Funklöcher

Niedersachsen mit rund 9.000 Funklöchern, Brandenburg meldet über 23.000, doch die Netzbetreiber reden weiter von 95 Prozent Mobilfunkabdeckung und mehr. (Mobilfunk, Handy)

Niedersachsen mit rund 9.000 Funklöchern, Brandenburg meldet über 23.000, doch die Netzbetreiber reden weiter von 95 Prozent Mobilfunkabdeckung und mehr. (Mobilfunk, Handy)

Street Fighter 30th Anniversary: Jubiläumsklopperei live auf der Switch

Um 18 Uhr streamt Golem.de-Redakteur Michael Wieczorek die neue Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection. Gespielt wird auf der Switch, und wenn wir genug Haue eingesteckt haben, spielen wir vielleicht noch das neue Mario Tennis – wenn die Server mi…

Um 18 Uhr streamt Golem.de-Redakteur Michael Wieczorek die neue Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection. Gespielt wird auf der Switch, und wenn wir genug Haue eingesteckt haben, spielen wir vielleicht noch das neue Mario Tennis - wenn die Server mitmachen. (golemlive, Spieletest)

Drug access law Trump just signed will cripple FDA—senator is making sure of it

In a feisty letter to FDA, senator wants to make sure the law’s intent is clear.

Enlarge / WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 30: President Donald Trump signed S. 204, the 'Right to Try Act' into law. (credit: Getty | Alex Wong)

Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) isn’t mincing words about his so-called “right to try” bill, signed into law by President Trump on Wednesday. In a feisty letter to Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb Thursday, Johnson put things bluntly: “this law intends to diminish the FDA’s power.”

The revelation substantiates a leading criticism of the law, which was otherwise pitched as a compassionate measure to help people suffering from life-threatening illnesses obtain easier access to experimental therapies. Critics feared it would simply undercut the agency’s regulatory power to ensure experimental treatments are used safely, while offering little aid to patients. After all, the FDA already has a prompt and lenient system for providing such patients access to experimental treatments, and 38 states already have similar “right to try” laws. Proponents meanwhile said the new federal law would give desperate patients hope and dismissed concerns that it would weaken the FDA.

But Johnson laid bare his regulatory intentions after being apparently infuriated by some of Gottlieb’s recent comments to reporters and on Twitter. Specifically, in a May 22 tweet, Gottlieb wrote: “When the House passes #RightToTry legislation I stand ready to implement it in a way that achieves Congress’ intent to promote access and protect patients; and build on #FDA’s longstanding commitment to these important goals #RTT.”

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Virtual Reality: BBC überträgt Fußball-WM in der virtuellen VIP-Loge

Direkt hinter einem der beiden Tore oder in einer virtuellen Luxusloge können Zuschauer mit vielen gängigen VR-Headsets die Fußball-WM über Apps der BBC anschauen – allerdings ist noch unklar, ob das auch in Deutschland ohne Weiteres funktioniert. (VR,…

Direkt hinter einem der beiden Tore oder in einer virtuellen Luxusloge können Zuschauer mit vielen gängigen VR-Headsets die Fußball-WM über Apps der BBC anschauen - allerdings ist noch unklar, ob das auch in Deutschland ohne Weiteres funktioniert. (VR, Internet)

UK Man Convicted After Sharing Cam Copies of Movies

A 21-year-old man from Sunderland convicted of distributing copyrighted films has been sentenced to a two-year community order. The case was referred to the police by two movie industry groups. They traced camcorded copies of the movies Ant-Man, Deadpool, and London Has Fallen to a local cinema, which eventually led to the man’s arrest.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons.

The UK has been rather tough on pirates in recent years but despite calls from the film industry, recording a movie in a cinema is not specifically a crime in itself.

That doesn’t mean that camming, as it’s called, is always without consequences. People who attempt to distribute the recordings are among the most sought-after targets.

Jordan Quartermain learned this the hard way. This week, the 21-year-old from Sunderland was convicted by the Newcastle Crown Court for several crimes that were uncovered following his camming activity.

The ball started rolling due to an investigation by the Film Content Protection Agency (FCPA) and the Foundation for Art and Creative Technology (FACT). In 2015, they reported that a cammed version of the film Ant-Man had been recorded at the Empire Cinema in Sunderland.

During the months that followed, cammed copies of Deadpool and London Has Fallen were recorded at the same cinema, after which Northumbria Police got involved. This eventually led the authorities to Quartermain, who was arrested at the movie theater in early 2016 after another offense.

While camcording may not be a crime according to UK law, distributing copyrighted movie without permission certainly is. According to the Northern Echo, Quartermain’s computer revealed that he shared 17 films online between April 2015 and March 2016.

Empire Cinema

Faced with the evidence, Quartermain pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of articles for use in fraud, two counts of distributing copyright infringing articles, and one count of conspiracy to distribute copyright infringing articles.

He was sentenced to a two-year community order and must carry out 200 hours of community service.

“This is another great example of police working efficiently with our partners to bring an offender to justice,” Northumbria Police’s Chief Inspector Michelle Robson comments on the conviction.

“Hopefully this case acts as a reminder that such activity is not acceptable and we will continue to pursue people believed to be committing or deliberately facilitating such offences.”

FCPA director Simon Brown is also happy with the outcome and claims that most pirated films are the result of these camming activities.

“As most pirated films originate from copies taken in cinemas worldwide, it’s vital that offenders are identified as swiftly as possible, and we thank all parties involved in bringing Mr Quartermain to justice.”

The latter claim seems doubtful, as high-quality rips of films tend to be far more common, but that’s nitpicking. We also won’t complain about any headlines which suggest that Quartermain was convicted for simply recording the films, instead of distributing them too.

Source: TF, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing, torrent sites and more. We also have VPN reviews, discounts, offers and coupons.

Mars Express has revealed the red planet in stunning new ways

Mesas. Chasms. Icy poles. River-like features. Mars is both alien and familiar.

ESA/DLR/FU Berlin

The Mars Express spacecraft and lander were the first interplanetary mission fully developed by the European Space Agency, representing both a failure and a spectacular success for the continent. It launched on June 3, 2003.

The failure came up front, when the British built Beagle 2 lander never phoned home after it was sent to the surface on Christmas Day, 2003. More than a decade later, scientists discovered that two of the lander's four solar panels had failed to deploy, which blocked the antenna the lander was to use to communicate with Mars Express spacecraft.

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